I have spent time thinking about mum’s retirement quilt and I think it should be scrappy. She’s a seamstress herself and taught me how to sew some 30 years ago. I still sew on the old machine she got as a newlywed in the early 80s.
What she isn’t (without wanting to insult her) is a person with style. Whether it’s clothes or interior decorating or whatever, I’ve yet to discover strong personal preferences. She’s always perfectly dressed because she shops at great stores where they put together the outfits for her. She takes other people furniture shopping and buys what they tell her to. She likes whatever the latest trend is, and after a while when it’s not on trend anymore she hates it (but she’s frugal, so if it’s furniture she’s going to keep it and hate it forever). It’s a shame she feels so strongly about no-longer-trendy styles. At some point in the 1980s she looked like she was in Dynasty and she can’t even think “that was a pretty cool look back then”, she feels so bad that she looked so ugly by today’s standards. That’s why I have only ever crafted small things for her. She can get rid of it when she’s done with that style.
Her current thing is beige and grey. Not my thing but if I knew she would still love it in a few years, I’d make a huge neutral quilt. But I don’t. And even for my own mother’s retirement, I feel like a quilt is too big of a commitment if it’s going to end up in a box in the attic in two years because she now hates it.
So instead, I’m thinking of scrappy (co-ordinated scrappy, not random scrappy) and I think I’m going to dig through her scrap bin when I’m there. I already have some of her scraps and I inherited grandma’s scraps. By the way - I have full permission to take anything from her stash that I want because she says I’m going to inherit it anyway. This way, it will be more of a sentimental project than part of her decor and it will hopefully match future styles in her home. I think she’ll continue to like it that way.
In the past she never really “got” quilting but we were at a craft fair a few months back and I could barely peel her away from the displayed quilts. So I’m sure she’d appreciate a quilt.
I appreciate all your words of encouragement about my Star Spangled Beauty quilt. Pulling the plug was definitely the right call and made for a more relaxed weekend for all of us. We went to the zoo (for a soft pretzel - LittleBookLover has a button on the zoo page of his communication device that says, “My favorite zoo snack is a soft pretzel,” and he’s been pushing it a lot lately, so on Saturday, he got his soft pretzel ), came home and watched the fireworks, then went to the fair on Sunday (where Av had another soft pretzel - yum!). It was a busy weekend and I’m glad I didn’t stay up late on Friday to work on the quilt.
@Immaculata, I’m looking forward to seeing your surprise quilt! I think that was a smart choice to just cut that quarter inch off and make life easier on yourself. That’s annoying that you were on track to finish it when you discovered the earlier mistake, but at the same time thank goodness you noticed it in time to fix it!
After reading about your mom’s retirement quilt, I really love your idea of making it scrappy - especially incorporating scraps from both her stash and your grandma’s. That’ll make the quilt even more meaningful and since it isn’t tied to any particular decorating trend or style, it sounds like it’ll be the kind of quilt that will be treasured and appreciated for many years to come.
@AIMR, I hope you have a good time visiting with your sister! Nice job completing the April BOM!
Here is the updated the Quiltalong Tracking Sheet for this quarter. You should be able to just click it and print it. Please let me know if there are any issues.
I like this quarters prompts. I can see they will help me get a lot of quilting done.
Q3 goals.
Finish another wanderers wife panel.
Do at least two sections of the balloon dog quilt.
Fix, or get fixed, Lucie the long armer.
Quilt one quilt on Lucie
Make an appliqued block
Make a pieced long coat
Do a quick top to use up some scraps
Do a quick top to use up 2.5" strips
I bought tie dye kits from Dollar Tree over the weekend. I’m all set to try normal tie dye, shibori, and … whatever that sun resist dying is called (I’ve had a kit for X years waiting for me to get to it). I just need to figure out where I frantic-stashed my off white fabric
We are going to a week long camping/music event and there is always indigo dying. I’m taking muslin and two white nightgowns to dye. Always fun to see everyone’s creations as they hang them tto dry.
Goal list Q3
-Finish the in-progress set of Tula Pink potholders
-Make at least 3 star blocks from Arthurian fabric
-Put together a quilt top from Arthurian fabric
-Sit down and do quilt math & proposal for Illinois Star Block class at Allerton
-Make a baby quilt for Nat
-Pick fabric for BOM’s
-Catch up on at least 2 BOM’s
-Make 2 quilted totes for surprise friend gifts
-Make scrappy pink tote out of crumb blocks
-Make scrappy yellow tote out of crumb blocks
-Make a new library tote
-Do something with the linen Irish Chain quilt
I’ve been making a bit more progress than I have been in recent years. Due to the heat and me not doing that well medically, I’ve been spending a lot of time alone in my craft room with a/c. I’ve finished quilting the surprise quilt, and nearly done quilting the Frolic. It’s been great working on these two with my repaired machine and my walking foot. I am still absolutely not a super great quilter but I do feel my skills are improving.
While quilting the Frolic top I noticed that some of the seams I pieced have been opening up. I sometimes get that a lot in projects (like this one) and in other projects it never happens. Nothing happened when I quilted the surprise project yesterday.
I have been blaming my machine a bit because the Frolic top was one of the last things I sewed before it froze up and needed repairs. But the stitches didn’t look anything out of the ordinary at the time. I have noticed that all of the seams that came apart so far included pieces of fabric that came from a mini charm pack and had pinked edges. Maybe I stitched too close to the pinked edge? Maybe those seams are less strong? I think I used the same thread I always use (Mettler or Gütermann) that I’ve never had issues with. Or maybe it’s just a coincidence / bad luck.
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AIMR
(Linda -2026 time to regroup and renew :us:)
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I think sometimes it is the pinked edge of some charm squares. I dab fray check on them and do a few invisible stitches right on the finished quilt. I then see if I can maybe do some additional quilting to secure the seams in those areas. It is frustrating but usually rare.
Nope, it’s not the thread, I just tested it again. I’m glad it’s not that because I used the same spool for my niece’s baby quilt and I expect that one to see a lot of wear and tear. I think I"ll just add some hand stitches to the seams. It happened in five or so places in the same quilt, all pinked edge bits.
I’ll have to dig through my stash for binding because the fabric I’d set aside for it is just not big enough. With this quilt I just kept going until I used up all the fabric and it turned out a bit bigger than I thought it would (65" x 40" ish). I’m sure I’ll find something suitable, red, yellow, blue and teal would all work.
For someone who is always saying she isn’t buying for stash, only for projects, my fabric is getting a bit out of hand and is almost growing out of it’s designed space, so it’s a good thing to be able to finish some scrap projects. Maybe start a few more to really make a dent in the stash lol.
I got two more blocks made. These ones are 16”. All of them are based on the size of the fussy-cut image in the center. I have 5 more 14” to put together.
I bought the fabric when Jim and I were planning our wedding. We had planned on having it in a public park, but ended up at a crazy Tudor castle hotel. Going with the flow, our cake toppers were a toy king and queen. At the same time, I was designing my thesis show for MFA. I found the fabric at a fabric store in Chicago while swatching my show. I couldn’t resist bringing home 2 yards. But that was 19 years ago! It’s really time to use this fabric up. I’m attempting to create something that feels like a stained glass window.
), came home and watched the fireworks, then went to the fair on Sunday (where Av had another soft pretzel - yum!). It was a busy weekend and I’m glad I didn’t stay up late on Friday to work on the quilt.
